Boundaries
by centreoftheselights
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to stay ugly, even though her best friend wanted nothing more than to be Pretty. So the girl headed to the Rusty ruins... and found nothing.    The story of how Dr Cable became who she is today.
1. Ugly

"Stick! Hey, wait up!"

The girl on the hoverboard didn't even look back.

"I don't hear you when you call me that," she reminded.

"Lee. Lee Cable! Stop a second, would you?"

Lee banked her board to a standstill and waited for her friend to glide slowly to a halt.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

"It just takes practise." Lee had a lot of practise. She boarded every day she got the chance, and, since she had learned how to trick her board to get around the minders, every night too.

"Stick –"

"_Lee_," she corrected, for the twenty-third time that evening.

"What does it matter?" he asked, a similarly frequent occurrence on this trip. "I mean, I don't care if you call me Pegleg."

"It matters, _Sol_, because those are our ugly names," she explained once more. "Once we find our way out of this town, we won't be uglies any more."

"What, the Wild will make us Pretty?"

That was his next line, the same argument they had been having for the past week. Sol just didn't understand what she really meant: it was the city that chose who was ugly and who was Pretty. Without that, they could just be _people_ – just Sol Youngblood and Lee Cable.

And nothing would have to change.

But Sol wasn't sticking to his usual argument.

"Actually, that was what I stopped you for. You do realise we're almost at the boundary again? The boards won't work much further."

Lee forced herself not to roll her eyes. Of course she knew they were at the boundary. She had wiped out more times than she could count testing its limits, and she knew the shape of invisible border like the scratches on the back of her hand. But that didn't mean she didn't believe that there had to be some way past it.

"I'm telling you, Lee, there's no way out of this town on a board." And on foot was too slow to avoid capture – plenty of uglies had proved that in the past. "They just don't work off the grid."

A flash of inspiration hit Lee.

"Sol, you genius! Where do hoverboards work off the grid?"

He looked at her, blank and uncomprehending.

"We have to try the river!"

"Stick – Lee – wait!"

But she was already gone.

* * *

><p>By the time Sol caught up again, they were nearly at the point where the river passed through the green belt. Further downstream, the waters crawled with party boats and pleasure cruisers, but here only the quiet bubbling of the water below broke the silence of the city at night.<p>

"Please, Lee," Sol whispered, even though there was no-one to overhear him. "Think about this. If the board stops working there aren't any minders. You could _drown_."

Lee hesitated for a second, and Sol continued.

"Think about this. Is this really how you want to spend your last night as an ugly?"

It was the wrong thing to say. Without saying a word, Lee's face hardened, and she sped up the river as fast as her board would take her, leaving Sol with no choice but to follow.

Lee flew. With Sol wobbling and weaving in her wake, she dipped and turned with the river, drinking in the sheer exhilaration of the rough water beneath her and the wind around her. It was wild and euphoric, something no pretty had ever experienced, and in this moment it was all hers.

Until it was over.

The river calmed again, and she reluctantly came to a stop.

"Wow!" Sol pulled up beside her. "That was brilliant! Totally wild! Lee, you're amazing."

She glanced back over her shoulder at the distant city lights. They had come a long way, further than she had expected. The wild stretched out unbroken before them, bigger than anything she had known could exist.

"What's that?" she pointed at a faint shape on the horizon. She could have been imagining it, but it looked like a city.

Sol hadn't heard her over the river. "We have to try that again. Come on, let's head back."

"No." She spoke louder than she had intended. "I'm not going back."

"But – Lee." Sol's expression grew serious. "Lee, everyone gets nervous about the Operation, but where are you going to go? You don't have any food, any shelter –are you going to eat animals and burn trees like some Rusty? The city is there for a reason. As soon as you're a Pretty everything will be perfect for you."

"You won't be there."

The one thing she hadn't dared to say.

Sol shifted uncomfortably. "It's only two months," he told her. "You won't forget me. We'll be together again soon."

"Come with me. Please." As long as Sol was with her, everything would be okay.

"I can't, Lee." Sol shook his head. "You know I can't. Come on, let's head back."

"No." Lee folded her arms. "I'm not going back yet. I want to go over there."

"But there's no river there. Are you going to _carry_ your board? Lee?"

But Lee had made up her mind. She was going, and Sol knew there was nothing he could say to change her mind.

Well, he was tired of having to follow her on these crazy expeditions. Shaking his head, he turned his board around and headed back to the river.

Lee made her way across the plain, trying to tell herself that the tears gathering in her eyes were merely from the exertion of carrying her board such a long way. Sol had left her. She was on her own now. But she would find somewhere for them both to stay together.

The further she travelled, the more convinced she was that the silhouette in front of her was another city. Had they really travelled that far? She didn't know how to tell. She had never been so far away from other people before, that she was sure of. She was alone in the wilderness now.

But she would find a way to make it hers.

She kept repeating that thought to herself, again and again as the city grew ever closer and her board grew lighter and lighter until finally she got into the air again –

And realised what an idiot she had been.

The Rusty ruins.

She had been there before, on school trips. She knew how close they were. Why had she forgotten?

Now she was alone in a dead and empty city.

Now she knew that there was no place for her in the wild.

The city was her only option. Everything else was death.

The Rusties had proved that, and she would never forget it again.

* * *

><p>The next day, Sol Youngblood woke up to a note under his door:<p>

I'm sorry about last night.

You were right. The city is the best place for us to be and when we're Pretties everything will be perfect.

See you in two months.

- Stick

P.S. Show someone the rapids, but don't bother heading across the plain – it's only the Rusty ruins.


	2. New Pretty

_Two months later:_

"I've missed you so much!

Lee hugged Sol tightly, then stepped back to look at him again.

He seemed a little overwhelmed. Lee grinned. She remembered what the first few days in New Pretty Town had been like – everyone seeming too beautiful, everything just too perfect. After years as a boring ugly, it was a shock to the system – but, she had quickly realised, it was no more than they deserved for all those years of impossible mundanity.

But now Sol was here and everything was perfect.

"Lee?"

She laughed. "Of course! Who else, Sol-ta?"

He smiled back. "It's great to see you too. But – who are all these people?"

Oh. Yes. Lee had wondered the same thing when she had first left the hospital. She had thought that Sol was her only friend, so why would anyone be waiting for her in New Pretty Town?

But no-one whose life was this perfect cared about silly little ugly disputes. Everyone from her ugly classes, from her old dorm and her new mansion, from cliques that thought she might like to join them or who simply liked being friendly to the newcomers – a huge crowd had arrived to welcome her to the party that would be the rest of her life.

Sol had even more people, because Lee had already told everyone how awesome he was – especially her fellow Bouncers, all of whom had been dying to meet her awesome trick partner.

She introduced everyone quickly – Ray-ta, Fliss-ta, Maddy-ta, Dez-ta –

"What's with all the 'ta's?"

"It's just what you call people, Sol-ta!" Lee explained. "But don't worry, you'll learn everyone's names soon. How _are_ you? Did you pull any cool tricks without me?"

The question wasn't as idle as it sounded. The Bouncers loved tricks – that was why she'd joined them – and if Sol wanted to get in too, it was never too soon to be making a good impression.

"I couldn't pull anything cooler than you managed," Sol said. "That last night? The Rusty Ruins? They're amazing, Lee. Uglies are going to be pulling that one for decades."

Lee tried not to show her confusion. "You mean the rapids?"

"Well, they're cool as well, but the Ruins are just the best."

Not exactly the word Lee would have used. The Ruins weren't truly _wild_ but they weren't at all _bubbly_ – they were just dead and boring, like everything the Rusties had made.

"You're a total legend."

It was probably just one of those weird ugly things. Soon, Sol would learn what "the best" _really_ meant.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Lee woke up unusually early, and – even more unusually – clear-headed.<p>

Why was that again?

The night before had been totally bubbly. Sol had taken to the Bouncers straight away – the look on someone's face the first time they tried out a bungee jacket was always brilliant. He had screamed the whole way down, but then he had insisted on going again and again.

Yes, that was it. He had dragged Lee along with him, jumping hand-in-hand with her at least a dozen times, barely pausing between Bounces for another glass of champagne. That was why – she had managed to stay sober! With the adrenaline rush of each jump, she had been too buzzed to even notice.

It was probably her first _morning_ since arriving in New Pretty Town.

But what was she meant to do until everyone else woke up?

A crazy thought occurred to her – probably inspired by Sol's arrival.

She hadn't been on a hoverboard since she arrived in New Pretty Town. Boarding was almost as good as Bouncing, and it was just as good on your own as with someone. She should totally try it as a Pretty. It would probably be even more bubbly.

Certain that her idea was brilliant, she leapt out of bed, dressed quickly, and within half an hour was at a local pleasure garden with a newly requisitioned hoverboard.

Fifteen minutes later, she was wondering what the problem was.

Okay, so the Operation had changed her centre of gravity. She had known it would take a little while to adjust to that. But she was like a littlie all over again! She had spilled more than a Bouncer with a bottle of champagne, and every time she managed to last more than a second or two without losing her footing something would distract her and she'd wind up being dumped to avoid crashing into a tree.

What was wrong with her? She had practically lived on a board for her last three years as an ugly. It had been a part of her, like she really was flying.

Now she was like a first-timer all over again.

It was so embarrassing. She was glad none of the Bouncer had seen her. She was tempted just to give up, go back to bed and wait for everyone to wake up.

But something was stopping her – the memory of the rapids, and being, for a few minutes, truly wild.

"No, Lee-ta," she said to herself. "You could do it once. You're just going to have to learn all over again."

* * *

><p>"Come on, Lee-ta. You can't be leaving <em>already<em>."

Yesterday morning, she had managed a whole minute without a spill. If she left the party now, she could probably practise for a whole three hours tomorrow before someone else woke up and wondered where she was.

"Where are you going, anyway?"

She hadn't explained. Not yet, anyway. She wanted to get good first – not as good as she used to be, perhaps, but at least good enough not to make a fool of herself.

"Won't you at least Bounce with me?"

She was tempted, but one more Bounce led to one more hour of partying led to one less hour of solitude to ride in. Besides, even the few seconds she could stay on the board were already beginning to remind her how wild could boarding could be. Bouncing seemed tame in comparison – _passive_. Boarding was nothing but active, a constant struggle with her own body to keep from spilling out again.

So she left the party early, for the third time that week.

The next morning, Lee was glad she had done it. She had managed to get from one side of the pleasure garden to the other without a single spill. Cornering was still a problem, but she was getting there. She already felt like she could fly.

"So, this is what you've been up to."

Lee spun around, prompting the board to dump her off. She waited out the dizzy-making spin before looking around again to see who had spoken.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" Maddy asked. "I wanted to see what you've been sneaking off for all the time. Boarding? Very bubbly."

"It's wild." Lee realised too late that she had used ugly slang.

"Wild," Maddy said slowly. "Yeah, it was. I haven't tried it in ages. Mind if I join you?"

Lee was surprised. She knew how great boarding was, but she had always assumed none of the other Bouncers would be interested.

"Sure, if you don't mind requisitioning your own board."

Maddy gestured to her wrists, and Lee saw she was already wearing crash bracelets. She already had a board. "I saw what you were up to yesterday, but you looked so into it I didn't want to disturb you."

"It's harder than I remember," Lee warned her. "Just because you were okay as an ugly doesn't mean you'll be able to fly straight away."

"I don't care," Maddy shrugged. "I just want to really fly again."

By the time they finished for lunch, Maddy was rubbing at her sore wrists. Lee was amazed to realise how much better she had already become. It had felt like she had made no progress, but compared to Maddy she was an expert.

"Why is it so much _harder_ now?" Maddy asked.

"I figure it's because there's so much more to look at here," Lee explained. "In Uglyville everything is too ugly to be distracting. But there's so much more to life than boarding now."

Maddy frowned. "But I was trying so hard to concentrate! I'm sure it never used to be that hard."

Lee shook her head.

She had been wondering the same thing herself.

* * *

><p>"You're <em>both<em> leaving?"

The clique was starting to catch on now. She and Maddy had tried not to be obvious about it, but boarding felt like a clique all by itself, just for the two of them.

"What do you two keep doing together?"

There was a ready-made excuse there for any two New Pretties, but unfortunately Maddy had a boyfriend. She didn't want him to think she was cheating, so she had convinced Lee to just tell everyone the truth.

"We're hoverboarding."

For a second, the assembled Bouncers were dumbstruck.

"That's so bubbly!"

"I have to try!"

"Can I come tomorrow?"

Apparently, the idea was very Bouncer. Everyone wanted in. By the end of the week, at least half of the clique were sporting crash bracelets and grippy shoes.

But Sol wasn't among them.

"Come on," Lee asked him for the dozenth time. "Don't you remember how wild Boarding was? Just try it."

"I didn't even like Boarding when I was an ugly," Sol admitted. "Can't we just Bounce?"

Lee didn't understand. Why Bounce when Boarding was so wild?

"I don't want things to be wild any more. I want things to be bubbly."

And so Lee watched as, as unstoppable as the continents themselves, the clique fractured and split, leaving Sol – brilliant, irreplaceable Sol – on the other side of a chasm that no board could cross.


	3. Middle Pretty

_Two_ _years_ _later_:

It took over a year for the Boarders to really establish themselves.

Most new cliques could get off to a rather faster start, but Boarding was different. It could take a New Pretty as much as six months to relearn hoverboarding after the Operation – longer, if they hadn't boarded as an ugly. Most didn't want to make the effort, joining for a couple of weeks only to leave the clique for something simpler like the Bouncers. It was clear from the very beginning that the clique would never be a large one.

But it was wild.

For a whole year, the Boarders spent every evening flying around New Pretty town – across pleasure gardens, around party towers, even dodging in and out of party boats on the river. For a year, Lee flew every night.

And every night it was a little less bubbly-making.

She tried to explain herself to Maddy, but she didn't seem to understand.

"There's more to life than Boarding," she would always say. But what else was there for Lee? When you had flown, really flown, even the wildest parties seemed tame in comparison.

The dozenth time Lee bought it up, Maddy rolled her eyes.

"When was the last time you talked to Sol-ta?"

Lee didn't meet her eye. Since Sol had made it clear he wasn't interested in the Boarders, they had barely exchanged a dozen pings. She hadn't actually _spoken_ to him in nearly two years.

"A while ago," she said edgily.

"Look, just because he has a new girlfriend –"

"He has a new girlfriend?" Lee hadn't known that.

The shock hit her like a bad spill. Suddenly, she didn't know which way was up.

"He and Ellie-ta... you hadn't heard?" Maddy frowned. "I'm sorry, Lee-ta. That was so brain-missing of me..."

"No. It's fine. He and I were never..." They had kissed a few times as uglies, but that was it. It wasn't like it had never been anything serious.

"Look, maybe you should try something else. Something other than Boarding? Just give yourself a break."

"Like what?"

Maddy laughed. "It's never too early to be thinking about your career."

Easy for her to say. Maddy was five years older than Lee, already more than halfway to the next Operation. Pretties her age were expected to start studying for whatever they wanted to be as Middles – not that they could _choose_, of course, but the City tested for existing expertise as well. Maddy and her boyfriend both wanted to be doctors, and they were studying hard to make it happen.

But Lee was practically brand New. No-one in their first three years even _thought_ about studying.

"I know you think it's too early, but – you're a Boarder! If you want to study, you _can_ – forget what everyone else thinks."

Lee nodded. She was a Boarder. She was wild. She didn't have to be the same as everyone else. She could study if she wanted to.

Did she want to?

Lee sighed. "I just wish it still felt like flying. It's never been as good as –"

She cut herself off, realising that she hadn't told Maddy about the rapids before. She hadn't ever wanted to before – that memory was between her and Sol.

But now, there was nothing left between her and Sol.

"As what?"

"As this trip I made when I was ugly." She had made her decision. "I snuck out of the city and found some rapids upstream. That was the wildest ride I ever had."

Maddy grinned. "We have to go back there."

"But..." Lee shook her head. "It's outside of the city. We can't sneak out."

"Why not? You did before."

Lee didn't know how to explain.

She was a Pretty now. Her life was meant to be perfect.

But it wasn't. She was bored of the mansions and the party towers. She wanted to see the wild again.

What was wrong with her? Why wasn't New Pretty Town enough? Why did she always want something _more_?

She shouldn't go.

"Let's go. Tonight. Just the two of us."

Maddy nodded. "Wild."

* * *

><p>Lee had forgotten how hard it was to sneak out. Leaving her interface ring behind meant that she couldn't get the lift down from her room – she had to Bounce from her window, clinging tightly onto her newly-tricked hoverboard. She was glad that there was no curfew to worry about in New Pretty Town – she was so rusty they would have caught her in seconds.<p>

She met Maddy, as they had arranged, at the oldest bridge on the river. It was one of the standard Boarder meeting spots, especially for river Boarding, but tonight the others would be cruising a park on the other side of the island.

It was strangely quiet travelling through the city at night. She had forgotten what it was like, out in the suburbs or the Green Belt, just you and a board and thousands of sleeping crumblies. New Pretty Town was always loud, something was always happening – even in the morning, when only the Boarders were awake, there was always _someone_ around.

Now there was no-one.

"Spooky," Maddy whispered as they passed the edge of the city. "I can't believe we're doing this."

Lee kept her mouth shut. Her last trip out here was coming back to her – that same desire to find something _better_ than her everyday life, something truly _wild_. Just like last time, her anticipation kept her from talking, as though she was afraid that the wrong word would curse it and snatch away the prize she was seeking.

She sped up, faster than she had dared to go since she was an ugly. It seemed easier now, her every sense coming alive, her muscles remembering better than they ever had before. And here it was, the white water, and she was skimming over the top of it, whipping around bends so fast that her vision blurred, her board dipping into the river and sending up great white plumes of mist which shimmered in her wake.

It was perfect.

So – why didn't she feel alive?

She pulled up at the end of the rapids feeling cheated. Perhaps it just wasn't as good the second time around? But she didn't think so. No, it was Lee herself. There was something wrong with her, this endless desire for something more. Well, there was nothing more. Hadn't she proven that to herself? She had to accept her lot in life, find some way to embrace it and forget this feeling that something important was missing.

"Woo!" Maddy trailed off of the rapids at high speed, shooting right past Lee and then circling back to join her. "That was brilliant! So wild! I've never been so bubbly!"

Lee tried her hardest to smile. "It's great."

But a secret part of her was thinking – there's no need to be so loud. The wild was too big to be touched by all those hollow, Pretty words. Why couldn't Maddy-ta let it be in silence?

She had to stop thinking all these ugly thoughts.

"What's that?" Maddy asked.

Lee glanced at where she was pointing. A smudge on the horizon – "It's only the Rusty ruins."

"If that's the Ruins, why is there a light?"

Lee looked again, paying closer attention this time. Right at the top of the smudge, a tiny flicker of red was visible. As she watched, it disappeared.

_Burnt_ _out_, a memory whispered.

"Flares," Lee said slowly. "There must be uglies out there, lighting flares for tricks."

"We should go out there!"

"No." Lee didn't even hesitate. "It's just some stupid Ruins. Totally mood-wrecking."

"I thought Sol said they were wild?"

"He was wrong, Maddy-ta. There's nothing wild about the Ruins. They're just... Rusty."

Rusty. Mood-wrecking, wild-wrecking, planet-wrecking. That was the ruins all over.

Maddy pulled a face. "Whatever. Let's ride the rapids again."

* * *

><p>The next day, Lee pinged Maddy.<p>

"So, what do you think I should study?"

If she wanted to find something else for herself – something meaningful – a career was the best place to look. Why not start studying?

"Morphological standards! Just like me."

What was more meaningful than morphological standards? Imagine deciding what the next generation of pretties would look like. Learning how the Operation worked – how the Cities themselves functioned.

Everything about this perfect life was only possible because of the Operation.

Yes. Lee could study that.

* * *

><p><em>Three<em> _years_ _later_:

"You're not going to believe it, Lee. I have the _most_ bubbly news."

"I _don__'__t_ believe it, because I have some fairly bubbly-making news of my own."

"You go first. Mine's better." Maddy grinned.

"Okay…" Lee paused for effect. "I got into the surgery course."

"Wild!" Maddy hugged her. "Lee-ta! And you're only fifth year!"

The surgery course was notoriously difficult to get into. Most New Pretties had to wait at least seven years after the Operation before they were considered mature enough. Once you were on the course, you were expected to actually perform the Operation – you even had to take a bunch of pills to make sure you didn't get any of the few diseases that the Operation didn't protect you from.

It was a brilliant start to Lee's medical career, and a lot of responsibility for a New Pretty to be trusted with. Lee couldn't wait. She had always felt out of place at the endless parties – it was all so silly. But she had seen from Maddy and Az how the surgery course made Pretties more mature, like they were already halfway to Middle.

"I knew you'd get it. You'll fit right in." Maddy smiled slyly. "Just like I will on the Committee for Morphological Standards."

"You got your Test results?" Lee gasped. "You got _in_?"

"Well, I have to spend a couple more years studying first, but I'm in," Maddy confirmed. "In three years time, I'll be at the Morphological Conference."

Lee hugged her back. "This is brilliant. And in five years, and I'll be right there with you."

"I wouldn't doubt it for a second."

"What about Az?" Lee asked, hoping Maddy's boyfriend had done well.

"Operation Safety Panel," Maddy replied. "He's so excited. I don't see what's so great about anaesthesia, but…"

Lee laughed. "Well I guess there have to be some strange people who don't like facial averaging."

Maddy smiled. "We're really going to make it, aren't we Lee?"

"Of course we are." Lee smiled back. "Just you wait."


	4. Late Pretty

_Two_ _years_ _later_:

Lee loved the surgery programme.

Finally, she felt like the New Pretties around her were people actually like her – people with focus, who really wanted to make life better for the rest of the city. She found herself caught up in deep discussions of the latest medical discoveries, debating late into the night without needing alcohol or an adrenaline rush to keep her interest. She had already been allowed to assist in dozens of surgeries, and soon she would be permitted to perform a part of the Operation as the lead surgeon.

Of course, the down side of her new workload was that she had far less time to spend on everything that wasn't her work, which included talking to Az and Maddy. Even on her few free days, there was little chance that either of her friends would be available now that they had passed the second Operation and were working hard on their real careers.

Which was why Lee was very surprised one day to receive a ping from Maddy asking to meet immediately.

"What's so urgent?" she asked her friend. "And why are we meeting here?"

Maddy had pinged that they should meet at the river boarding spot – the old bridge. Lee couldn't fathom why she hadn't invited Lee over to her new house in the suburbs, or else come by Lee's apartment.

Maddy fidgeted. Lee still hadn't quite grown used to her friend's authoritative Middle Pretty face, but her expression today was even stranger. Maddy looked _nervous_, glancing over her shoulder every couple of minutes as though the pair might be attacked at any time.

"It's about Az," Maddy said.

Lee's concerns deepened. The couple had been married last spring – what could have gone wrong? Of course, divorces were not unheard of, especially among younger Pretties, but Az and Maddy had been together for the better part of a decade. Could he have –

"His work."

Lee was flummoxed. Relationship troubles, she could have understood, but what did Az's work have to do with anything?

"He – I'm not sure I should be telling you this." Maddy ran a hand through her hair, and it occurred to Lee that it had been a long time since she had seen anyone behave like this – not since she was an ugly. "But – I have to tell someone."

"Calm down," Lee told her friend. "Just tell me."

It couldn't be that bad. Could it?

"It's the Operation." Maddy whispered so quietly that Lee could barely make out her words even though they were practically touching. "There's something wrong with it."

Impossible. The Operation couldn't be wrong. The Operation made everything right.

For most people, anyway.

"What do you mean, _wrong_?"

Maddy was visibly shaking. "Az was looking into the side effects of anaesthesia and he found something – something big. Brain damage, Lee."

Lee almost laughed with relief. "There's always been a risk involved with the surgery, a couple of –"

"Ninety per cent of post-ops suffer from it."

Lee froze. She couldn't process this information. Ninety per cent. _Ninety_.

"Did you –"

"Az told his supervisor, but he just got told to drop it, but that many people – we had to work out what it was, we –"

Lee was barely listening. Ninety per cent of people. Brain damage just couldn't pass unnoticed, could it? But surely no-one could fail to miss _ninety_ per cent…

"We checked everyone we know, all three of us are clean, most of the old Boarders –"

Had no-one noticed? Hadn't Lee felt like she was the odd one out, her entire life? Always wishing for something more. Perhaps she had been seeing that something was wrong all around her…

But that wasn't right. She was the wrong one. Everyone else was just – perfect.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "That it's the ninety per cent – I mean _ten_ per cent…"

"No sign of any damage in pre-ops. The Operation makes the change, whatever it is…" Maddy touched her arm. "Lee. We don't know what this is, but it's something. I had to tell you. I think –"

Maddy froze, staring at something behind Lee.

"I have to go."

Before Lee could stop her, ask why, anything, Maddy was hurrying across the bridge towards Uglyville.

She didn't once look back.

"Miss?" Lee turned to see a warden, looking concerned but unflustered. The way Middle Pretties should look. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine ma'am," Lee reassured her.

By the time she turned back to the bridge, Maddy had vanished.

* * *

><p>Lee walked back to her apartment, but even once she arrived she couldn't stop pacing, thinking about what Maddy had said.<p>

Brain damage. Ninety per cent of post-ops. But not most of the Boarders. And absolutely no uglies.

What hadn't she seen it before?

The Operation was about so much more than looks. They could fix your brain, make you perfect, make you _happy_. They had found a way of making everyone truly Pretty, inside and out, scouring all the ugly, Rusty thoughts from their brains permanently. But it must not work on everyone.

It clearly hadn't on Lee.

But then, the city couldn't run itself if everyone was living Pretty. You couldn't perform surgery if you'd been partying all night beforehand.

You couldn't learn to Board either.

Perhaps this was what had drawn them together. It took resilience and focus to learn to Board in New Pretty Town. Perhaps it hadn't worked for _any_ of them.

Lots of the Boarders had gone into medicine, or else become wardens, politicians – all kinds of important jobs.

City running jobs.

They were the unlucky few, for whom eternal happiness could never be achieved, but they used that disadvantage for good, sacrificing their lives' work to the protection of the fortunate majority.

This was what Lee had always been waiting for. This was her destiny.

And it was glorious.

* * *

><p>Lee was shaken out of her thoughts by a knock on the door. She answered it to find a Middle Pretty she didn't know wearing a stern expression and a warden's uniform.<p>

"Lee Cable?" She nodded. "May I come in?"

"Of course." She pursed her lips. "Is something the matter, Warden?"

He waited until she had closed the door before answering.

"My name is Rex," he introduced himself. "And I work for the Security Centre."

He paused a moment to let that settle in. Every Pretty had heard of the Security Centre, although for most it was nothing more than a legend. They dealt with the most important security matters facing the city – major crimes like murder, or even external threats. If the rumours were true, they knew everything about everyone.

"Are you acquainted with Az and Maddy Hope?"

Lee suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

"Has something happened to them?" she asked, almost panicking at the thought. There were few people she counted as true friends, and Maddy and Az were at the top of that list.

He didn't answer her immediately, and her terror steadily increased.

"Have you spoken to either of them recently?"

"I saw Maddy this morning."

The man looked interested. "What did she discuss with you?"

Lee frowned. Maddy's demeanour had made it obvious that she considered what she was telling Lee to be a secret. But while Lee understood that the truth behind the Operation was best kept protected, surely the City's own Security Centre was privy to that kind of information?

"She was concerned about a recent discovery Az had made," Lee confessed. "They had realised that there were widespread side-effects to the Operation…"

Lee didn't know how to explain.

"Did she specify what kind?" Rex asked.

"She called it brain damage," Lee said slowly. "But it isn't, is it?"

"What do you mean?" Rex didn't look happy.

"I've been thinking about it all afternoon, and people aren't brain damaged," Lee explained. "They're happy. The Operation is creating a perfect world for them, but it also makes them worthy of it. It's… brilliant."

Rex raised an eyebrow. "You are clearly an intelligent young woman. Have you considered a career as a Warden?"

Lee hesitated. She had been training for years to become a surgeon, searching for meaning in helping the City. But was it really the best way to use her talents, knowing what she did?

"I hadn't until today," she admitted freely. "But… it's my responsibility to protect them, isn't it? The ones it worked for."

Rex looked puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well…" Lee suddenly felt uncertain. "Most of the Pretties fit in after the Operation, but I never did. That was why I always had to _try_ for things, so I was drawn to being a surgeon. It was for the good of the city."

Rex shook his head. "You received the same Operation as anyone else. It worked on you for years. The process was later reversed at your admission into surgery training."

A part of Lee wanted to accept this explanation, but she knew it was wrong.

"It never worked on me, not properly," she insisted. "And I wasn't the only one. We were a clique – the Boarders. Normal Pretties can't hoverboard, can they?"

Rex frowned. "No. Were Az and Maddy in this clique with you?"

"Yes." The sound of their names reminded Lee why Rex was here. "What happened to them? Are they alright?"

Rex's expression grew even more serious. "They are missing."

"Missing?" It didn't make any sense.

"Two long range hoverboards and survival packs were stolen yesterday. We believe they were planning to leave the City."

Leave the City? That made even less sense. Everything beyond the City was as dead as the Rusties, harsh and unforgiving. History had proven a thousand times that humans couldn't survive within nature without one or the other suffering terrible consequences. What were Az and Maddy thinking?

"It seems likely that you were the last person to see either of them."

This was all Lee's fault. She had taught them to hoverboard, taken Maddy on that trip along the rapids. She had doomed them both.

But –

"You'll find them, won't you?" she asked Rex, almost begging. "You'll bring them back."

Rex shook his head. "I'm afraid we just don't have the resources. They might find their way to another City willing to take them in, or else they'll have to make a living in the wild."

Living in the wild. Like barbarians.

What had she done?

"No, there must be something," she insisted. "There's so much we can do, we have so much technology, we must be able to –"

Rex held up a hand to silence her, but he looked thoughtful.

"You have a lot of interesting ideas, but I'm not the person to be talking to."

"But –"

He laughed. "Don't worry. The Security Centre is always looking for bright young minds like yours."

"We'll be in touch."


	5. Special

_Three_ _months_ _later_:

At first, Lee hadn't been sure whether or not to take Rex up on his offer.

Then it turned out she had no choice.

When Lee showed up for surgery one day, there was a hovercar waiting for her. The Security Centre was high-up business – higher than the Test. Her career had been assigned now – she was officially an adult member of society, working for the Security Centre as a Medical Liaison. Officially, she was even a qualified doctor.

"Not that we can let you have the Second Operation just yet, of course," Rex told her. "We wouldn't want people asking questions."

Lee always raised an eyebrow when he said that. Her two closest friends were missing, presumed pre-Rusty style nature wreckers. The rest of the Boarders were busy with their own careers, and she hadn't spoken to her parents in months. She spent ninety per cent of her free time either eating or sleeping, and most of the remainder was the hovercar journey home. Who was going to ask questions?

But a New Pretty she remained, forbidden from actually leaving the SC headquarters on official business. No, her job for the next three years was to sit inside watching interrogations through Rex's eye-cam – an amazing piece of technology that the SC had apparently been keeping for themselves – to "learn the business."

"Unless, of course, you think of something better."

That was Rex's other little not actually funny joke. She had said that with all the City's technology, they should be able to do better.

And the City had turned to her and said: how?

From within the Security Centre Headquarters, she could access any information she wanted without any worries about security clearance. She had all the data at she wanted at her fingertips, and she was being challenged to turn it into a completely new way of working.

The trouble was knowing where to start.

Lee could feel so many brilliant ideas, just waiting for the right trigger, the right thought which would open the floodgates and let out an avalanche of new thinking. She _would_ save Az and Maddy.

("No-one forced them to run away," Rex's voice echoed in her memory. "What if they don't want to come back?" He had said that precisely once, on her very first day. Lee still hadn't worked out how to respond to that.)

All she needed was inspiration.

* * *

><p>Even though she didn't have much real to do yet, Lee was always exhausted by the end of her twelve-hour days at the Security Centre. She could barely keep her eyes open as she pushed open the door to her apartment building and made her way across the lobby to –<p>

"Hey! Lee! _Lee_, wait up!"

She blinked sleepily, trying to place the voice in her memory, as a man she used to know hurried across the lobby to intercept her.

"Sol?" she asked hesitantly.

"I've missed you _so_ much!" He stepped forward for a hug, but Lee pulled away. "Where have you been? I've been waiting _hours_! I bet you were doing something bubbly, weren't you?"

"I was working, Sol." Lee frowned.

Brain damage. She hadn't really understood what that meant until now, talking to him, seeing how unnatural his happiness was now that she was used to people without the lesions. But he _was_ happy. He was just like he was meant to be.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I heard about Az and Maddy." The way he said it, so offhand, almost made her shudder. "I wanted to make sure you were okay, Lee-ta."

Lee-ta. How long had it been since anyone had called her that?

"I'm fine," she said curtly, continuing to the lift.

"Great!" Sol followed her. "We should totally catch up. We haven't spoken in _forever_."

Lee silently reminded herself that she was a warden now, and a doctor, and her job was to make sure that the City stayed happy and, by extension, she probably shouldn't ruin Sol's buzz by slamming the door in his face.

Would he even understand why she wanted to? Brain damage…

"Do you want a cup of tea?" she forced herself to ask instead. She would humour him, for a little while. After all, they had been friends once…

"Yes please!" He kept smiling. "I can't believe that Az and Maddy just disappeared like that – do you have any idea what happened to them?"

"No," she said flatly. She wasn't supposed to discuss Security Centre business outside of work – and, at least as far as she was concerned, Az and Maddy _were_ Security Centre business.

"It's so weird that Pretties are disappearing," Sol wittered. "I mean, those uglies were bad enough…"

"Uglies?"

Sol laughed. "Haven't you checked the news lately, Lee-ta? The five uglies who have vanished. I mean, everyone just figured they ran away – remember when you wanted to run away?"

A horrible thought had occurred to Lee. "When was this?"

"Oh, the last couple of months," Sol breezed. "But Az and Maddy wouldn't want to run away, would they?"

Except they had. And if uglies were suddenly running away, it sounded like they were teaching their trick to anyone who would listen. It was even worse than Lee had thought – they weren't just turning pre-Rusty, they were forming a _tribe_.

"You must be _so_ worried about them."

Sol was still smiling. Suddenly, Lee couldn't stand it any more.

"Why do you even care?" she asked sharply. "You barely knew them."

Sol looked confused. "I thought you might need someone to talk to."

"We haven't spoken in years," she reminded him. "We're hardly _friends_ any more, are we?"

"We used to be, Lee-ta." He pouted slightly. "I'm trying my hardest, but – I just don't understand why you won't do the same."

"You wouldn't come with me." There it was, out in the open, all her old wounds bursting open and bleeding afresh. "The ruins. The Boarders. We were meant to be best friends. Why wouldn't you just come with me?"

Sol frowned, his huge eyes full of worry. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Lee-ta…"

"Well you managed it."

She was losing her cool, almost snarling at him, but he had hurt her too many times and he was still looking at her like he didn't understand.

Perhaps he never would.

"Maybe…" Suddenly, Sol lost his hesitancy. "Look, maybe I had to. Lee-ta, why did you always have to be _different_? All I ever wanted was to live a normal life, to be happy. Wasn't that enough for you?"

All he ever wanted. Even as an ugly, he hadn't been able to take that leap for her. It wasn't the Operation that had made him like this – he had always been this way. He could see a normal life, and it had never even occurred to him to try for something different.

"No," she told him coldly. "It wasn't enough for me. I've never wanted to be normal, Sol."

There was a long moment of silence, broken only when a beep from the hole in the wall let them know their tea was ready.

Lee did not move to fetch it.

"I think you should leave," she told the man she had once called her friend.

"Lee-ta…" Sol pleaded.

"Don't call me that!" she snapped. "I'm not that person any more."

He half-smiled, like this was all a joke to him. "What am I meant to call you?"

She returned his smile with as much warmth as an iceberg.

"I'm Doctor Cable now."

* * *

><p>The ideas were all clear to her now, as though the thick layer of obscuring ice she had been peering through had finally broken, plunging her deep into the chilly waters of insight.<p>

Why hadn't she seen it before? It was all here. The trials. The mistakes. The _data_. Like some littlie mobile, all it took was the right way of looking at it, and suddenly thousands of broken fragments drew together into a single perfect picture.

And Lee liked what she saw.

She had always been different, and she had always thought that it was her fault. But the Security Centre wasn't for broken people, it was for the _special_ ones. The tricky uglies. The Boarders. The lucky minority. The ones with the courage, the determination, the ingenuity to create this world – and more importantly, to protect it.

They had been paralysed before, limited by meaningless conventions. But soon, they would have so much more to work with. They would have the speed, the strength, the stamina to fight off threats face to face. They would be able to feel perfection, the beauty of the City and the wild, and the atrocity that was an injury to either. And most of all, they would have unquestionable authority, and demand respect from everyone who looked upon them.

Finally, Lee would become what she had always meant to be. She would build her own perfection.

It took her less than a week to draw out a plan and present it to Rex. He had asked her to bring any ideas to him and, true to his word, he read it through carefully, dropped what he had been doing, and immediately took her to see the head of the Security Centre.

Once he had read it all, the man raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. But, you realise it will be difficult to find a trial subject."

"Of course. Informed consent." Lee raised her own eyebrow in return. "Will a volunteer be sufficient?"

* * *

><p>Only her second Operation, but it would be the last she ever needed. The plans had been checked by every kind of specialist, rehashed, adjusted, finalised and now, they would be put into action.<p>

Lee took a deep breath into the mask, lay back in the hospital bed, and thought happy thoughts.

The City would be protected. The wild would be saved.

She would be the protector and the saviour.

She would be perfect, and she would be special.

She would find Az and Maddy, and she would make everything up to them.

I'm coming for you, she told them in her dreams. Sooner or later, I'll find you, and I'll bring you back, and everything will be perfect for you too.

But don't worry. Unlike everything else in the wild, I don't want to hurt you.

But I probably will.

If I have to.


	6. Extra

Author's note: Although Lee's story is now finished, the idea that inspired it - namely, the question of why Dr Cable so consistenly underestimates Tally - did not actually make it into the eventual plot. Instead, it is included here as a bonus scene. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Dr Cable read the morning's report with increasing annoyance.<p>

Prospective 2114 – commonly known as Shay – was missing.

This was not meant to have happened.

Of course, Shay had been a known flight risk. There had been a group of them – Prospectives the lot. Tricky to the last, just the kind of uglies that Special Circumstances kept an eye out for.

Just the kind who had a tendency to disappear. The kind who like to run off to Maddy and Az's crazy adventure in ruining the world all over again. But soon, they would be brought back, and they would discover the true stupidity of what they had done.

But more than half of those Prospectives had vanished simultaneously, and the security risk on the others had been reduced considerably. Uglies were fearful; they rarely ran away on their own. If a group of friends left together, it meant those who remained were the ones too afraid to face the wild.

The dregs. The people who barely deserved to be called Special, but who Dr Cable was forced to take in just to maintain numbers. She hated feeling second best to savages.

Shay was the last of the group left pre-Op, and she was meant to stay put and wait for her birthday like a good little cowardly ugly. But instead, she had disappeared.

She scanned down Shay's trick record for the last year. Several trips to the Rusty Ruins with her friends, continuing right up until they had left eight months ago. Then the usual pattern for a forlorn ugly – night time trips around the green belt with the shrinking remains of her clique, and ever more frequent excursions across the river to reassure herself she had done the right thing.

Dr Cable wondered, sometimes, how uglies could be so stupid. The Specials had left obvious holes in security to tempt through the trickiest uglies for potential recruitment. Did these uglies really think their 'tricked' hoverboards weren't trackable? But, to date, not one of them seemed to have considered that there was a reason sneaking out was so easy.

But Shay's tricks were nothing unusual.

… until three months ago.

Dr Cable was concerned. Three months ago, Shay had made a new friend. They had ridden around the green belt together dozens of times, although only one major trick – strangely, to the Ruins rather than the far more accessible island.

She called up the newcomers biometric data, and widened her eyes slightly – the most emotional reaction she would allow herself.

Youngblood.

Now that was a name from the past.

Young Tally had a clean record until three months ago – she hadn't even owned a hoverboard. There was nothing at all Potential about her, just the usual unimaginative ugly pranks. Without a hoverboard, she couldn't even have made it to New Pretty Town.

Dr Cable could sense how things had gone. Shay had been looking for a friend, but she had found a follower. She had tried to teach Tally her tricks, tried to convince her to run away – but Tally had been too afraid. Tally was nothing Special – she wouldn't ever be daring enough to face the wild.

But, if Shay had been stupid enough to believe otherwise, she might have left more information than she ought to have done.

Well, there was one way that was guaranteed to make a Youngblood co-operate. She had tried to abandon her friend to turn Pretty. Well, Dr Cable had something to say about that.

"Operation postponed," she updated Tally's file. In one week, Tally Youngblood would discover the consequences of letting her friend down.

And she might just bring the Smoke down for good.


End file.
